Out Of Depth
by badly-knitted
Summary: Dee has suffered an eye injury thanks to an incident at work and it's causing him some problems. Written for Challenge 164: Perception at beattheblackdog. Set after Vol. 7.


**Title:** Out Of Depth

**Author:** badly-knitted

**Characters:** Bikky, Ryo, Dee.

**Rating:** PG

**Setting:** After Vol. 7.

**Summary:** Dee has suffered an eye injury thanks to an incident at work and it's causing him some problems.

**Word Count:** 1351

**Written For: **Challenge 164: Perception at beattheblackdog.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bikky thought it was hilarious; his first reaction was to point at Dee and burst out laughing. "You look like a pirate!" he crowed, taking in Dee's eye-patch.

Ryo was quick to set the boy straight. "Amusing as it might look, this is no laughing matter, Bikky," he said sternly. "Dee was lucky not to lose his eye. As it is, he can't see out of it properly, and won't be able to for a few days at least, possibly a week or more, which is why he's got to wear the eye-patch."

"Means I'm stuck behind a desk at work too 'cause I can't drive like this. There's a reason people have two eyes… shit." Going to hang his jacket on one of the wall hooks, he missed and it fell to the floor. "Can't even do that right," he muttered as Ryo hurriedly snatched the garment off the floor and hung it up beside his own. "This sucks!"

Bikky looked confused. "How come you dropped it? It's your eye that's hurt, not your arm."

"Loss of depth perception," Ryo explained. "You try doing regular things with one eye closed and see how well you manage. It's what Dee was saying; having two eyes means we see the world in three dimensions. With only one it's hard to judge how far away things are. That's why he missed the hook."

"Oh." Bikky tried closing one eye and picking things up; it was a lot harder than he thought it would be. With some things it was okay, but with others he missed. The closer he was to what he was picking up, the easier it became, but at arm's length, as Dee had been trying to hang his jacket up, his hand failed to connect with what he was reaching for, even though it seemed to be in reach. "This is hard," he admitted, glancing guiltily at Dee. "Sorry I laughed at you, but you still look like a pirate."

"Yeah, all I need now is a parrot on my shoulder," Dee said wryly, wandering over to the sofa and sitting down carefully. His eye might be the most obvious sign of injury, but the rest of him was pretty battered too and he knew Ryo had to be feeling the same way. They'd both been running towards the car after they saw it crash, intent on rescuing whoever was inside, so when it had exploded they were thrown off their feet and peppered with flying bits of metal and glass. Dee, more concerned for his partner than for his own well-being, hadn't been quick enough to cover his face and he'd gotten a glass fragment in his eye; in some ways that had been scarier than getting shot. Losing his sight was the worst thing he could imagine; worse even than getting killed; it would mean giving up his career, having to feel his way around his own home, never seeing his baby's beautiful face again…

Both he and Ryo had needed treatment at the ER; apart from getting Dee's eye seen to, they'd had several minor wounds from the flying metal that had required stitches, and both of them had been checked over for concussion and broken bones. They knew they'd gotten off lightly; if they'd been any closer to the explosion they might have been far more seriously injured, as several bystanders had been, but whoever had been in the car hadn't stood a chance.

He was pulled out of his reverie when Ryo came out of the kitchen and set a tray on the coffee table, mugs of hot tea rather than their usual coffee; although they weren't concussed he'd decided tea would be more soothing. Dee would still have preferred a coffee, but at that point anything hot and wet would do; he was thirsty and aching. naturally, his lack of depth perception struck again when he leant forward to pick up his mug, his hand closing but missing the mug handle by a whisker.

"Dammit!"

"Here." Ryo reached for Dee's mug, wincing slightly from the pain of a wrenched shoulder as he picked it up and handed it to him.

"Thanks, babe. Sorry I'm bein' such a nuisance. You've gotta be hurtin' as much as I am."

Ryo brushed off Dee's concern. "No need to worry about me; I'm just bruised and a little sore."

Dee gave his partner an incredulous look. "A little sore? If you feel anything like I do, you ache all over. Hell, even my bruises have bruises. 'Sides, you know I worry if you get so much as a paper cut."

That was a bit of an exaggeration, although his lover did tend to fuss over him whenever he was injured.

"I'll live; I've had worse." Which was true enough. It wasn't even the first time they'd been knocked off their feet by an explosion, but it was the first time they'd been close enough to a blast to feel the heat and get a bit singed around the edges.

Bikky slumped onto the floor at the other side of the coffee table, frowning up at his foster father. "Why didn't you tell me you got hurt too?" He leaned closer to peer at a raw mark on Ryo's forehead, mostly hidden by his hair, where a hot piece of metal had clipped him, leaving a small burn as well as a bruise.

Ryo smiled at the boy. "I didn't say anything because I knew you'd worry. I'm fine, just a few minor cuts and bruises, and some pulled muscles." He and Dee had gotten changed into the spare clothes they kept in their lockers when they'd gone back to the precinct to type up their reports after leaving the hospital. What with the bloodstains, burn marks, and holes, the clothes they'd been wearing hadn't been worth trying to salvage and would have gone straight in the bin if Jim hadn't claimed them as evidence, saying they might help him get a better idea of what had happened. Ryo consoled himself with the knowledge that at least it hadn't been a suit day so they'd only ruined easily replaceable casuals.

"'Course I worry," Bikky said earnestly. "You're my dad and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"And I don't like worrying you for no reason. Honestly, Biks, I'm fine; we both are, otherwise we wouldn't have finished out our shift, we'd have been sent straight home from the hospital."

"Yeah, well, I think you should rest tonight anyway. We can order takeout for dinner."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Ryo agreed. As much as he usually enjoyed cooking, he was just as happy to give it a miss tonight and simply relax in front of the TV. If they got something that could be eaten straight out of the cartons it would also save him having to wash dishes. With his hip still throbbing where he'd landed on it, he welcomed anything that would keep him off his feet. "Have a think about what you fancy."

"'Kay." Bikky eyed his nemesis. "I suppose you're staying over."

Dee was in the middle of taking a sip of his tea, and before he could swallow and reply, Ryo answered for him.

"Yes, Dee will be staying here until his eye heals. He needs to put drops in it four times a day, and with no depth perception to speak of, he's liable to miss his eye and put them up his nose if he has to do it himself. Safer all round if I do it for him."

Bikky shrugged resignedly. "Whatever."

But when the pizza they'd ordered for dinner arrived, the boy made sure to put it on the coffee table closest to Dee, where he could reach it easily, telling them it was only so Ryo wouldn't have to do everything for the perv including serving him. After all, he had his image to protect; it wouldn't do for Dee to think he cared.

Even if he did, just a tiny bit.

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The End


End file.
